After a three-month hiatus, John Couey returns to court July 17 for a hearing to determine whether he is eligible for the death penalty, court officials announced.
The convicted killer of Jessica Lunsford is scheduled to appear before Circuit Judge Ric Howard in Citrus County for a hearing about whether he is mentally retarded.
Defense expert Robert Berland, a Brandon forensic psychologist, testified at the Miami trial that Couey suffers from mild mental retardation, based on a standard intelligence exam he took in February. If found retarded, Couey could not receive the death penalty under state law.
On March 8, a jury convicted Couey of kidnapping, raping and killing the 9-year-old Homosassa girl in 2005. A week later, the jury sentenced him to death by lethal injection.
Since then, state and defense attorneys worked behind the scenes to line up mental health experts who examined Couey in preparation for the hearing.
A formal sentencing hearing before the judge will take place afterward, though no date was set. Howard is required to give the jury's recommended death sentence great weight.
--John Frank, Times staff writer
Follow the latest developments in the murder trial of John Couey as compiled and reported by the staff of the St. Petersburg Times and tampabay.com.
